I think two of the fouls were for moving screens. The sad thing is that he was probably just trying to get out of there before actually setting the screen, like he usually does, not moving to set a more effective screen. It was pretty funny to see how quickly he picked the fouls up, when he picked up the 5th I said Jordan should just leave him in there to foul out, you knew he wasn't ever getting off the bench again at that point, may as well let him use the 6th.

AI9 played 50 of a possible 53 minutes and was a +7. In the three minutes he didn't play the team got outscored by 12. Incredible.

That being said, what really stuck out to me was Speights. Not just that he was scoring it, but that the team was clearly relying on him to be the "the man" and he wasn't flustered a bit. He is the most talented offensive big we've had since the Stilt.

Do you think a big that just knows how to play the game, and maybe isn!t as good defensively or rebounding wise as Sam makes this team a lot better? Watching Elton out there with Marreese, he just looks more comfortable where Sammy and him, offensively, never seemed to mesh.

it's hard to be comfortable on the floor with a player who doesn't do anything you'd expect. Sam can play pretty solid man defense and he can rebound well but you really never know where he's going to be on the court other than that.

Has anyone noticed that when Speights is playing the four, Jordan doesn't have him 30-feet away from the hoop taking dribble handoffs? He actually puts him in good position to get good shots. So why does he insist on playing Brand out there when he's at the four?

First off, it was great being out at the game for the first depressedfan field trip. If nothing else it was memorable and I had a great time. I don't usually post, but I think I'll start trying to comment with everyone a little bit more.

One thing about the game that did encourage me was that Eddie played an extended stretch with Lou, Dala, Thad, Brand, and Speights. I thought those five played very well together, and although Willie, Lou, and Jrue were interchangeable pieces for Jordan. Iggy, Thad, Brand, and Speights brought us back in the game. Good to see two legitimate bigs in at the same time.

But I agree that the biggest disappointment was the team being too thick headed to ride Brand and Thad down the stretch.

Yeah, great to meet you guys. It felt almost like a high school game with the stands so empty :)

Who do you think we should blame for Thad's disappearing act? Is it him shrinking from the moment? The coach for not calling his number? The players for looking elsewhere? I really have no idea. He's so aggressive early on, but I don't remember him even getting his hands on the ball much in the second half, so I don't know if we can pin it on him.

Gotta blame Eddie first for not recognizing the mismatch that Thad had against any defender LA could have placed on him.

Secondly, you gotta blame his teammates, and I would say primarily Igoudala (our supposed leader) and whoever was running the point at the time. See a hot guy = get him the ball. Doesn't matter if it's a pickup game or a Finals game, if you're playing team ball you look for mismatches and for players "feeling it" and you go at the other teams weak points. These guys have been playing ball their whole lives, you would think they'd pick that up by now.

I think Speights is at least improving his defense and rebounding. Doubt he'll ever be above average in those areas- but if he is at least improving I don't get as frustrated.

Also, Speights put on some extra weight when hurt. Not a great thing, but as he bulks up its clear he can play center full time. He does not lack the size or length- just needs to convert some of that back to muscle.

I too enjoyed the game and enjoyed meeting a few fellw Depressed Fans.

I remain amazed that a professional coach can be completely unaware of defensive match-ups. I couldn't believe he didn't use Sammy & Jrue for defense when he had the opportunity. I almost expected to see Kapono come in for defense - as a "4".

Defense was poor all night. The fans kept chanting defense, but I don't think the team was prepared to do it. We gave up open 3's again and didn't protect the paint either. Shouldn't we be doing one or the other if we don't have a scheme that defends both? Camby had 22 rebounds - directly related to Sammy's poor performance. Why is Sammy expected to defend the paint and do all the rebounding when he is in, but Brand and Speights play together and can score rebound and defend with two bigs on the floor.

I thought our players were tired in OT. They played too many minutes in the 2nd half.

Agreed on the players being tired. Jordan made all of 2 substitions in the last 20 or so minutes of the game. From 2:51 left in the third quarter (when he brought in Speights and Williams) he:
- Brought in Green for Williams with 4:18 left in the 4th
- Brought in Green for Young with 2:31 left in OT.

That's it. Speights, Brand, and Iguodala all played the final 20 consecutive minutes.

Hey I was at the game and at the end me and my friend started chanting FIRE EDDIE! I'm curious if any of you guys heard us. we sat like 10 rows from mid court because of how empty it was haha. I would've said hi as this is my favorite sixers blog, but i didn't know where you guys were sitting.

Darn, na we were in 113 so it was two sections away. We did it with 1:22 left in the OT period and I was able to slightly hear it during the replay on tv so I thought it would be loud in the stadium full of like 3k people. We got many compliments in our section for it haha

there is no doubt in my mind speights will be a monster very soon. His defensive and rebounding liabilities can of course be solved by his gaining size (if he gains 15 lbs of muscle, he is dwight howard range), while maintaining (or possibly increasing) his explosiveness, he will be able to everything with the best of them.

and while speights is very close if he puts a little work to continue conditioning, it is also the fact that speights needs a big man coach to teach him defensive and rebounding fundamentals. i'm sure we can agree that ej is not out there to develop players in those specific categories, but if he can grasp the fundamentals, increase his size, and improve his conditioning, he becomes the best 5 in the league.

I've pretty much written off any kind of development for any of the young players on this roster, especially where defense and rebounding are concerned. Those things simply aren't being emphasized nor taught by this coach and his staff. Offensively, there's a chance Speights could turn into Amare, a very real chance. Put a defensive big in the front court next to Amare, and two perimeter defenders who can stop penetration and he could be the offensive centerpiece on a legit contender. I think that might be what we have to hope for (after Jordan's gone, of course).

Right now, my biggest concern about Speights is that his coach/GM are more concerned with the team's record right now than his health. He shouldn't be on the floor right now, if the doctors said 6-8 weeks for that MCL injury, he should've been out 8 weeks minimum, just to be sure.